Simple Salad Friday

My Baby (Psyche)

You know those nights where the dog keeps kicking you in the back and farting beside you while you try to sleep? No? Just me hey? Well that's what happened, as a result I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for my meals today.

That doesn't mean that my food wasn't delicious though.

This salad was tasty and simple.

Salad:
Bean Sprouts
Carrot Ribbons
Spinach
Crimini Mushrooms
Raw Peanuts

Dressing:
1 tbsp. Almond Butter
1 tsp. Lime Juice
1 tsp. Tamari (gf)
Water (you'll want enough to make it the consistency of almond milk)

Mix dressing ingredients, whisk until smooth.

Raw Carrot Linguini in Spicy Thai Almond Satay Sauce

This recipe is super quick to prep (as far as raw cuisine goes anyhoo) and you can make extra sauce as it keeps well and makes an excellent spread or dip. If you're not a fan of spice you can omit the chili flakes and it will still be super tasty. The recipe shown here does not use any water making the sauce is quite thick and dip-like, so you may find you like it slightly dilluted to make it easier to toss on the 'noodles'.

What you'll need (2 servings):

Spicy Thai Almond Satay Sauce (makes 1 cup)

1/4 C top part of unmixed coconut milk

1/4 C raw almond butter

3 pitted dates

1 t full lime juice*

2 T apple cider vinegar

1 T fresh garlic paste

1 t curry masala

1 t crushed chili flakes

2 T tamari

2 green onions, roughly chopped

Pasta

~5 carrots

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2 red capsicum, julienned

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1. blend all sauce ingredients until smooth
2. store in container in fridge until ready to use
3. with a carrot peeler, peel carrots lengthwise (I find it's easier if you pull the peeler towards you) in a spiral fashion to get extra long ribbons
4. place carrot ribbons in a large tupperware and cover with sauce and 2 T water
5. close tupperware and shake until carrots are well coated, adding more water if needed
6. let the saucy carrots sit for about 20 minutes until softened
7. add capsicum and mushrooms and shake to coat
8. dish into bowls, top with green onion and serve
   
   
   
   
    *full lime juice is what I call the product of taking an entire lime and shoving it in your juicer, it has a great full flavour from both the juice and the zest without too much pulp.
   
   
   
   This recipe was adapted from Sarafae and her awesome blog: addictedtoveggies.com !

Stacked pear, spinach and macadamia nut "goat cheese" salad w/sweet apple cider vinaigrette

1 large pear
1 large handful of fresh spinach or mixed greens
2-3 tbsp chopped walnuts
2-3 tbsp dried cranberries

Macadamia Nut “Goat” Cheese
Makes about 3/4 cup

1 cup macadamia nuts
1 tbsp unpasteurized white miso
2-3 tbsp water, as needed
pinch of salt
2-3 tsp lemon juice






Sweet Apple Cider Vinaigrette

2-3 tbsp raw agave
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cold pressed olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Methods/steps

Macadamia Nut “Goat” Cheese

1) Drain and rinse the macadamia nuts.
2) In a food processor or powerful blender mix together nuts, miso, salt and water (as needed) until it forms a smooth paste. You may need to stop the blender and scrape down the sides a couple times.
3) Transfer onto a double layer cheesecloth, wrap into a small log (let cheese to sit out for 12- 36 hours in a warm area of the house if you want a more tangy and salty taste)
4) Remove cheese from cheesecloth and adjust flavors (if necessary) by adding lemon juice and/or salt. Store in the refrigerator.

Sweet Apple Cider Vinaigrette

1) In a blender combine agave, apple cider vinegar, and lemon juice. With motor running, slowly add olive oil until thick and well combined.
2) Season with salt and pepper. Store in refrigerator.

To assemble the salad:

1) Core the pear and slice it into thin slices.
2) Place few leafs of spinach on a plate and cover with a pear slice.
3) Top the pear with a layer of nut cheese and a couple of dried cranberries.
4) Layer with a couple more small pieces of spinach and repeat 4 times.
5) Drizzle with dressing

This was AMAZING! I would make this again and again. The prep / stacking takes a while for such a simple meal but the flavors more than make up for the prep time.